DESIGN DIARY - 12.01.00

Chuck's Thesis

The whole Product Development is devoid of Jedi Knights toilers except for one. And as Luck (or the as-of-yet indeciphered Patterns of Lunchtime) would have it, that lone soul is just the one I wanted to talk to.

Silent in his alcove - Chuck is always quiet when he's not hollering - Mr. Kallenbach greets me with a smile. I sit down and drop the bomb.

"Tell me about your game design philosophy."

Now there's something you have to know about interviews. People generally like to be given an opportunity to voice their opinions, thoughts, feelings, ambitions, donut preferences and social security numbers - but only one bit at a time. Casual conversation is often the best way to make people comfortable during an interview. The interviewer asks a question, the interviewee offers a short- to medium-sized answer in return, and the pair keeps going until the interviewer feels he or she has all the pieces of the puzzle that will later be assembled to create an article - or until the interviewee has had enough of it (which we try to avoid, naturally).
Sometimes, the interviewer will plague his or her victim with a holistic, the-laws-of-physics-stop-here kind of question in an attempt to get the Big Picture directly from the interviewee instead of piecing it back together later, and that's normally a very good thing. But that very good thing does not agree with everyone because it strays away from the "casual conversation" mode. How often to you ask your friend, "So what are your metaphysical views on the implications of the tesseract, when unfolded in the three standard dimensions?" Most people would rather wish for a question of the "Do you know what a tesseract is?" variety, and slowly build up from there.
But not Chuck.

"Fun is good."
That's a fair start.
"I always go for solid mechanics," continues Chuck. "And since I'm a Gemini, I easily get bored. So I want things to keep moving and stay fresh. I couldn't play the same game for five years every weekend. I don't think I could do anything for five years straight."
Pause.
"Well, I've been married for twenty-two years, so I guess there are a few exceptions to what I just said."
A strong believer in dragging his guts down the street if necessary to make a game system work, Chuck simply wants the players to have it all. Because he's a player too, you see. "I think game designers should never hold anything back," Chuck says. "When I'm designing a game, I give it all I can. I think you should completely drain yourself for the basic game, and then do it all over again for each expansion set. Don't hold ideas back."

"I also need innovation, naturally," continues Chuck. "I want to turn the game on its ear every time a new expansion set comes out. I try to keep things as fresh as possible by inventing new stuff and re-inventing old stuff."

One more thing: "I want the rules to be clear, because when I play a new game I *read* the rules." Chuck smiles. "Calling someone a 'Rules lawyer' should be a compliment and not an insult - assuming the rules are clear and free of loopholes to begin with."

Playing a game you have designed has to be different than playing any other game. Right?
[Chuck stops to collect his thoughts for a moment.]
"It's very hard to play the game and not think about all the problems and considerations you had during the design process," he answers. "It's hard to get some distance. Right now I feel like I'm constructing a building with my nose on one brick. People standing on the other side of the street are telling me 'Hey, that's a nice-looking building' but all I can say is, 'This brick isn't straight.' I'm sure in a year from now I'll think Jedi Knights is a great game. Right now, I have no idea."

With a formal training as a graphic artist, Chuck has a penchant for expression and communication. "I think the communication aspect is very fascinating in a game," confirms Chuck. "I love to tell a story. And that's why I like to work with licensed properties [like Star Wars for Jedi Knights] because it gives me a framework to build on and tell a story with."

Chuck goes on. "I also like interacting with other players very much." Which probably explains his appreciation for the stuff-throwing matches that sometimes take place between Chuck and his alcove-mates (but never when there's someone present to report it on the web site).

I have one last question. What is best, interaction in a two-player game or interaction in a multi-player game?
"Well I'm a Gemini, so I can't decide on stuff like that."

Francis K. Lalumiere
The Juggler